UT Arboretum Society presents history of CRESO on March 28

Posted at 10:41 am March 19, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

John Byrd of CRESO (Submitted photo)

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will sponsor a talk by the Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization, or CRESO, on Thursday, March 28, at the UT Arboretum Auditorium.

The talk is scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m. March 28. The UT Arboretum is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

John Byrd, principal investigator with CRESO, and Fred Holtzclaw are retired high school biology teachers, a press release said.

“After spending 12 summers transporting junior high and high school students to remote places in the southeastern United States to visit unique ecosystems, they decided it was time to turn in their chauffeur hats and set up a research facility in their own community of Anderson County, Tennessee,” the press release said.

In 1989, the U.S. Department of Energy partnered with Anderson County and Oak Ridge Schools to develop an education/field research program known as the Clinch River Environmental Studies Organization.

Byrd will document the evolution of this 30-year program along with the upsides (and a few downsides) of student research and conservation efforts, the press release said. It will also be an opportunity for participants to become more familiar with some of the unique flora and fauna found at the Arboretum and surrounding landscapes.

“Byrd and Holtzclaw found that a key motivator behind CRESO was the heartfelt desire to introduce young people to local wildlife, which continues to be a constant source of joy, questions, and discovery on an almost daily basis for its founders,” the press release said. “They sincerely thank the many students and CRESO staff members that contributed to the fun and serendipity associated with doing science.”

This is a free program sponsored by the UT Arboretum Society, and no advance registration is required. For more information, send an email to [email protected] or call (865) 483-7277.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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